“I’m here! I’m not doing anything” Pinly said
“Then what is this?” Vince struggled even harder trying to pull his leg out of the water. It all happened in less than a second; Vince was pulled underwater. Pinly hurried to go after him but nothing, he could not see his friend anywhere.
“Vince!” Pinly kept calling, but no response. He swam deeper. He could see the bottom of the pond, but no sign of Vince. Pinly was desperate for air so he swam back to the surface. He was about to shout Vince’s name again, but didn’t. He flew back as a little ball of light made its way out of the water towards him. When it reached him, Pinly could not believe his eyes. It was Vince. Vince looked up and they both pointed at each other, in shock
“Why are you so big?” Vince asked
“I'm not big, you're tiny!” it's only then that Vince seemed to realise his back was buzzing, the boy turned his head around and Pinly saw golden light
“Wings!” he screamed “Wings! I've got wings!”
“You've got wings!” Pinly joined in “Go on! Fly!” Pinly said and Vince took off. Pinly had never seen a fairy so fast, so fast that the only perceivable thing was the golden light emanating from Vince's wings. To Pinly, it was like a bolt of light bouncing left and right. He celebrated as Vince spiralled up to the top of the trees. But as Vince reached high up, he turned back into his human form and began to fall,
“Crap!” he shouted as he descended at full speed, Pinly rushed through the air to catch him, but before he could reach the boy, Vince turned back into a fairy and slipped through his arms, making a tiny splash into the water. Pinly saw Vince's light reappear as he resurfaced
“We've got to tell Miss Poli” Pinly said
“I race you there,” Vince said, taking an unfair start ahead. Pinly rushed after him, but catching up to Vince was impossible, his eyes could barely keep up with the bright light of the wings. What took them half an hour to walk took less than a few minutes to fly at full speed. He saw Vince crash in his human form in front of Miss Poli's house. Obviously not knowing how to graciously land yet. The witch came rushing out as soon as she heard him. Pinly was only just arriving and Vince was dusting himself off.
“What in the world is happening here?” she looked at Vince “have you lost your mind?” she asked
“I did it!” Vince bounced up and down and changed into a fairy
“Look at him!” Pinly said as they both twirled in the air
“But how?” Miss Poli asked
“Well the spell must have worked after all” Vince replied
“I don't mean that, I mean how are you able to switch from human to fairy like that?” Vince flew down to her level and changed back to a human
“Is it not normal for a half human half fairy?” he asked
“No, you're either a fairy or you're a man, you shouldn't be able to be both... That's probably because the spell was incomplete” she gazed at him, Vince changed back to a fairy and continued flying around as fast as possible
“What kind of fairy is this?” Pinly asked
“Humming fairy” she replied as Vince excitedly darted left and right like a magic arrow “the fastest of them all, but also sneaky little buggers”
“Oi!” Vince protested as he came down and settled in Miss Poli's palm, his wings were like two blades covered with tiny golden feathers, he touched them for the first time, his body seem to tremble with excitement
“Beautiful, isn't it?” Miss Poli said, Vince was speechless. Pinly approached and ran a curious finger on the wings, they were softer than anything he had ever touched. Vince jumped off Miss Poli's hand and changed back into a human “You're very talented, it hasn't been an hour and you're changing back and forth like that”
“I'm not sure how I'm doing it... I just imagine myself back into shape” he said, Miss poli nodded
“You are imagining” she nodded “Your mind is your biggest weapon when using magic…”
“So as long as I can see it in my head, I can make it appear?” Vince asked
"Sort of... You also need the power source to back it up, right now you don't have a great amount of aura and you have no training whatsoever”
“When do we start training then?” Vince asked
“We will start tomorrow at dawn… One more thing, I will let it go this time, but don’t ever steal from me again” she said before walking back into her house.
Chapter 16
The training
P inly didn’t sleep at all that night. The excitement was too much to take. He spent most of the night showing tricks to Vince like recalling and conjuring small things. They were having so much fun that the morning came fast and the sun was piercing through the tree branches before they realised, they needed to sleep. Miss Poli emerged from her house at the same time she always did. She smiled when she saw them.
“We're ready for our training” Pinly said
“I see” she nodded
“Should I change into a fairy now?” Vince asked
“That won't be necessary, the first part of your training will consist of gaining strength without magic…” the boys looked at each other, confused frowns on their faces
“But, didn't you say we needed to harvest more power?” Pinly asked
“I did and you will, but the stronger you are without magic, you'll be even stronger when you do use it. To use magic, you need stamina and actual strength, that's the only way to control some of the strongest and most dangerous spells or enchantments. All the most powerful beings in this world do a great deal without using magic”
“But that's something my father must have known, I know he wasn't immensely powerful, but he knew so much, yet he never did anything without magic, everything we owned was made using magic”
“And that was a big problem, why do you think your father was rebuilding parts of your house every year?” she asked, Pinly shrugged “Magic should only be used for things that are temporary, houses should be built by hands not magic, food should be hunted and gathered, it should not appear out of thin air. This is why you're not as strong as you should be, this is why no one in the village was”
“So when should a fairy use their magic?” Vince asked
"In your case, when flying" she rose off the ground and back down “When dealing with magical creatures” she extended her hand and a small, golden snake with red eyes, rose out of her palm and rolled around her fingers. It looked like an animated jewel, Vince's eyes glinted with desire, he tried to approach the snake but it hissed him away before disappearing back into the witch's palm “They can also use magic when they need things they'll only use once like certain tools and weapons”
“But aren't weapons meant to last?” Pinly asked
“Yes they are and a weapon forged by hand will always be stronger than a magic one, but when you need arrows, it is useful to be able to create as many as you want or if you find yourself needing a blade and you boys probably will, you can create one in a flash” the boys nodded
“How are you able to use that kind of magic if you're not a fairy, surely witchcraft is different…” Vince asked
“I've been living amongst fairies for at least a thousand years... I picked up a thing or two. Right!” She clapped her hands and rubbed them together “Let's get on with your training. You two will not use any magic for the few months to come…” she said
“What?! I've only just got my powers and I can't use them at all?” Vince protested, she shook her head “not even after training?”
“No” Miss Poli insisted “it is crucial that you obey this” she raised a finger at them, Pinly knew there was no point arguing with Miss Poli by now, she had proven countless times that she always had her way. Now that he thought about it, even back at the village, when she was looking after Lion and him, she always laid down the law. She had no patience for their constant fighting and mischief. He remembered when she suspended them both by the feet to the ceiling of her house until their parents came back for them.
“What are we going to learn then?” Pinly asked
“Fighting, with and without weapons and we will work on your stamina and strength too” she replied
“When do we start?” Vince sighed
“Now, you have two hours until breakfast, you will run until I tell you to stop” the boys looked at each other
“Run for two hours!” Pinly cried out
“Yes, now go” Miss Poli pointed at the woods and the boys began to trot away. After a little while Pinly started slowing down then walking. He regretted not sleeping for the whole night, all he wanted was to lay down. The fairy didn't know how long it had been, but his left rib ached and he was out of breath. Vince on the other hand was used to running, most of his training probably came from trying to escape people chasing him through Chavo. The boy was well ahead of him. After all Pinly had spent most of his life flying, rarely letting his feet rest on the cold hard ground.
“Come on mate, you can do it” Vince encouraged him. Pinly pushed through the pain to run again, one hand resting on his aching side. At the end of the two hours Miss Poli appeared in front of them, she walked out of a magical gate. The boys dramatically fell to the floor. Pinly's legs were shaking uncontrollably, he breathed heavily, embracing how fresh the moist ground was.
“We have a long way to go,” Miss Poli said as she looked down at the panting boys. “Go to the lake, clean up and come back for breakfast”
“Which way is the…” but before Pinly could ask, Miss Poli had disappeared “lake…” he looked around "I have no idea, where we are right now" he said, Vince stood up and looked around
“Me neither, but let's go” he said, Pinly painfully stood on his weak legs and began walking behind Vince. It took the boys a very long time to find the lake, they cleaned up and from there they knew the way to Miss Poli's house.
“You're late” she said when they arrived, she wasn't wearing her usual cloak, her attire was still entirely black but she had on fitted pants and a hooded top.
“We got lost, we were in the middle of nowhere” Vince protested
“Get in line” she gestured in front of her
“Are we not going to eat?” Pinly's belly rumbled louder than ever, it called for food and rest.
“If you want to eat, you need to be on time”
“What?!” The boys shouted
“That's not fair” Pinly said
“Enough!” Miss Poli shouted for the first time. The boys went quiet almost immediately. The witch continued straight into the next lesson “imitate my movements” Miss Poli said.
She turned her back to them and began to move slowly into what seemed to be a dance made out of fighting moves “You will learn these fighting patterns” she said as she moved around, Pinly reluctantly put his arms up and tried to do the same as her “You will master these moves, then we will incorporate magic into them” she slowly punched, blocked and kicked through the air, in different ways and directions. Her legs reached high and her fists looked strong. The boys had the same routine for the first two months. They were better at running. They even managed to come back on time for breakfast. They knew the fighting patterns and hadn't used their powers once, after five months she started incorporating more exercises into their daily workouts: push ups, pull ups and sit ups, they went faster during the choreography and soon they were really moving to strike. She made them stand for as long as possible with their arms stretched out on which she then attached bags of rocks on each end. The first time they did it, Pinly felt like his arms were going to break. They would then use the bags for their daily two hours run. Pinly's body constantly ached. He had black and blue bruises all over, so did Vince, but he rarely complained about it so Pinly tried not to either. Every break for breakfast or lunch was a moment of pure bliss. They never enjoyed food as much as that moment, especially Pinly who continued to discover the difference in taste between real and magic food. The real food was a lot tastier which he hated to admit. The fruits were a lot sweeter and juicier, the meat was tender and tasted just right. He even enjoyed vegetables, which he always hated before. “We're out of food” Miss Poli said one morning before their usual run “if you want to eat, you will bring back breakfast and lunch with you, I'll give you one tip…” she looked at them seriously “the meatiest animals don't live on the ground."
The boys had been running for an hour, Pinly realised how good he was becoming because he was barely out of breath.
“That witch is completely nuts, how are we supposed to hunt without magic or even a weapon?” Vince complained
“That's probably what she wants us to figure out” Pinly replied “there aren’t many animals in this forest though. Maybe around the lake, I'm sure we can find something coming for water there” Pinly hadn’t seen a deer, rabbit or anything he was used to seeing. Instead he had ran into a pack of wolves and the odd squirrel here and there.
“Remember last time we tried to hunt... it was a disaster” Vince said
“So what? Let's try again…” there was a minute of silence, Pinly thought about what Miss Poli had said “what do you think she meant when she said the meatiest animals don't live on the ground?” he asked, Vince shrugged, they both looked up. Pinly never thought of venturing up above. Not even when he was trying to escape Miss Poli. Mostly to avoid a very nasty fall whenever the witch pulled on the ropes to get them back. And now that they were forbidden from flying, it hadn’t even crossed his mind. They stopped running, dropped the heavy bags of rocks and began to pay attention at what was above their heads
“Even if there was anything up there, how are we supposed to reach it? We're not allowed to fly remember?” Pinly said, Vince frowned at him
“What's wrong with you? You can’t afford to say no to challenges” Vince said as he crouched down to empty one of his bags of rocks. The boy picked up two of the sharpest stones and handed one to Pinly.
“You're right, let's do this” Pinly grabbed the stone and followed Vince who was climbing the closest tree.
“Whatever is up there, it better be good” Pinly groaned as he climbed up. The higher he got, the more evident it was that there was life up there. His heart skipped a bit when he heard something crack. At first he thought it was one of the branches supporting him or one of Vince's, but he heard another crack and realised it was happening higher up. There were heavy creatures moving around. Pinly looked at Vince and signalled him to remain quiet. They moved closer to the source of the noise at the top. They waited and listened. Pinly moved the enormous leaves around and peeped up, Vince's head followed. The sunlight burned their eyes. Both of them had been inside the forest for so long that they weren't used to seeing so much light anymore. It took a minute for their visions to settle. The top looked like a floor of leaves. The tree tops had been flattened, most probably by the creatures Pinly had just heard. He could easily walk on top without falling through the bed of leaves. To his amazement, resting up there were giant birds' nests, all filled with multi coloured eggs at least twice his size. As far as Pinly could see, there were at least a dozen nests. Large shadows appeared as enormous colourful birds began to land all around the boys. Pinly had never seen birds or anything this big. Their enormous beaks snapped dangerously, their eyes were completely black and their feathers more colourful than rainbows “What are these?” Vince whispered
“I don't know, I've never seen these ever in my life” Pinly replied, his mouth gaping at the immense birds. The fairy looked at his rock, it looked pathetic next to the beasts. He wasn't going to kill one with such a small weapon. “Do you think that's what she's been feeding us this whole time?” Pinly's face wrinkled at thought of it.
“I don't know” Vince shrugged “I thought it was chicken, I never asked…” There was a great wind as one of the birds flapped its wings “P, I don't think we're ready for this” Vince said as one the birds snapped its beak open and shut like a guillotine. They heard a screeching cry coming from behind. It gave them a lifesaving warnin
g before one of the beasts' beak plunged down at them. The boys jumped out of the way. They were now above the trees, running around for their lives. The large beaks snapped, left and right. They rolled and jumped out of the way. The bird that had first attacked them was chasing them around. The claws on its feet threatened to rip them apart with each step it took. Pinly noticed that the other birds fiercely protected their eggs and did not move away to chase after them.
“This way!” Pinly screamed, Vince followed him, missing to get sliced in half twice. Pinly had seen a nest with four pink eggs unguarded. They rushed in its direction and stood in front of the eggs. The giant bird came to an abrupt halt. It extended its wings and let out a deafening cry. The boys roared back at it, their stones in hand ready to fight for their lives.
“Get back!” Vince screamed at the bird but it did not flinch. Its wings were still fully extended, shadowing most of the blinding sun. In a flash, the bird swept the boys away from the nest with one of its wings. They went crashing onto the soft leaves meters away. They didn't have time to recover from the blow. They were still on the ground when the bird's beak pounced down at them. Pinly picked up his rock and struck the bird in the eye, the bird backed away, screeching in pain, Vince Picked up his rock and ran towards the bird
“What are you doing?” Pinly shouted
“It’s our chance!” he roared,
“Don't be stupid!” Pinly shouted, but Vince was already halfway there. He had no other choice but to stick with him. The bird had one eye shut now and hadn't seen Vince on its blind side. The boy jumped on its neck and blinded the bird by striking its other eye. Vince was holding on tight to the beast's neck. In its struggle to free itself, the bird made a hole and began to fall within the forest. Pinly ran with all his might to catch them before they fell. He could see them sinking into the forest. He jumped down the hole and fell on the bird. His hands were clutching at the colourful feathers. The blind bird began to fly clumsily through the woods, hitting one tree after another. Vince was climbing up its long neck until he reached the head. He locked his feet around it, but still looked like he struggled to stay put, as the bird wiggled around. Pinly saw Vince raise his stone and landed it on the bird's head repeatedly until the bird gave up fighting, its big glass like eyes were lifeless. The boys on top of the dead bird fell rapidly to the ground in an explosion of soil and feathers.
Made of Magic and True Grit Page 14